In the Little House books in On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura and her family live in the country outside Walnut Grove, which is close enough that Laura and Mary can walk to school in Walnut Grove. But it is far enough away that the girls are called “country girls” by those who live in Walnut Grove itself.
The Ingalls homestead property, and specifically the dugout, were 1.5 miles to the north of Walnut Grove. So Mary and Laura walked that distance to and from school each day. While this might seem like quite a distance today, this would have been a typical distance to walk to town for school children on the prairies.
Note: this refers to the distance the real life Ingalls family lived from Walnut Grove, not as it as on the television series.
